A few days later, the husband is found dead, his head bashed in. Fearing she’ll be considered the most likely suspect, the widow prevails upon Sydney and her three friends—Marianne, Kat and Micki—to find out who really killed him. Though none of these four fun-loving, take-charge retirees has any training as detectives, the women agree to launch a secret investigation. As they dig under the happy veneer of their community’s social life, they find more than enough suspects, from shady ladies to resentful golf buddies, to keep them looking over their shoulders. Could the murderer be lurking among the talent in a chaotic production put on by Sydney’s husband, who will do anything to keep busy in retirement? Could the sheriff, who may have more than a professional interest in chanteuse Kat, end up pinning the crime on the women instead? Each discovery during their investigations and their weekly mah jongg game keeps them running as they close in on the killer—but the killer may also be closing in on them. This cozy mystery, the first in the Mah Jongg Mystery series, features four retired amateur sleuths who live in the small Florida town of Serendipity Springs, all female and all friends who play the game of mah jongg together. Though they don't set out to investigate murder, after their first experience in this story, others start looking to them to help investigate subsequent homicides and questionable accidents. In this first book, Sydney Bonner takes the lead, although she turns to her three friends for help. Though this series features four protagonists, the others will take the lead in subsequent stories. Two are married, one is divorced and the fourth, who has been single all her life while she tended to her ailing mother, now finds herself the object of the sheriff's attention in this series. The four don't seek out murder; somehow the circumstances and those affected drag them in. Meanwhile, as they attempt to gather information, life goes on in their community in such activities as a women's club, a social group for those over 50, real estate transactions, numerous stops at the local coffeehouse, and even a shopping trip to Naples. Sydney's husband, Trip, and her friend Marianne Putnam's husband, Beau, are golf buddies who spend many a day on the course. When not there, Trip is busy seeking to build a new post retirement life, and Beau is often prevailed upon to join in Trip's latest activity, which in this first book is a town follies. Kat Faulkner has lived a frugal life until winning big in a lottery shortly after her mother's death; suddenly, Kat has money and doesn't know how to spend it. But her divorced friend and freelance writer, Micki Demetrius, does, even if it's to guide Kat through a makeover and wardrobe change for her lounge act. This cozy mystery is the first book in the Mah Jongg Mystery series. Barbara Barrett is already published in contemporary romance. She is a member of the Mystery/Romantic Suspense chapter of Romance Writers of America. Like her protagonists, she is retired and is a resident of Florida, although she spends her summers in her home state of Iowa. She spent over three decades as a human resource management analyst with Iowa state government. She can be contacted at barbarabarrett747@gmail.com. Check her website at barbarabarrettbooks.com.

    Neither does the island of Nantucket. A NEW RELEASE cozy mystery perfect for fans of Agatha Frost, Cynthia Ellingsen, Cindy Bell and CeeCee James When Agnes Mary Clarissa Christie Prouty, a.k.a. Angie, abandons her fiancé and her analyst job at a big Manhattan investment firm, she doesn’t expect to end up back where she started—the island of Nantucket.  It’s not every day you get a chance to open a bookstore, complete with bookmark-eating cats and cantankerous great-aunts.  Especially when your childhood friends agree to provide you with the world’s best pastries from their bakery down the street. Everything goes great until one of the locals turns up dead on the fourth of July, the sound of the gunshots covered by the local fireworks display. But did it have to happen right after Angie delivered a book to his home making her a prime suspect? Angie and every gossip on the island, including her great-aunt and her friends, are on the case.  But trying to discover the truth is going to take more than a simple murder investigation.  Someone’s guilty and the deadly secret might cut closer to home than anyone wants to admit.Being an amateur detective is harder than it looks, even when you’ve been named after the Queen of Crime.  This cozy mystery/amateur sleuth novel is book one in the Angie Prouty Nantucket Cozy Mystery Series

     Angie Seaver isn’t exactly thrilled to be moving back to her small hometown of Lost Bay, Alaska. Her mother’s health isn’t good, and her father is away much of the time, determined to win the Iditarod dog sled race, which leaves no one to run the family diner. A stranger in the harsh land that was once her home, Angie is faced with the challenge of figuring out how to run the business on her own. She soon realizes that many of the locals still see her as “little Angie Seaver,” and vows to prove herself by making the diner more successful than it’s ever been. When the unexpected death of a friend casts suspicion on her father, Angie is determined to prove her father’s innocence, and discovers that things aren’t as they seem in the small town. With help from a handsome young acquaintance, she uncovers secrets that have been buried for decades…but will what she finds clear her father’s name, or condemn him? Will the answers leave her heart colder than the Alaskan wilderness?

    The electronic rights have reverted to the author and it has been re-released with a new cover. Detectives Brandon Berger and Dawn Luke are investigating a mysterious death that leads to the doorsteps of the Magnolia Faith Church. Tight-lipped parishioners and lack of evidence stop this case in its tracks. Further north, William Chandler takes his wife and their infant daughter on a camping trip to the Skybald National Forest. After a series of strange events, William is arrested for murder. He swears he’s innocent, but the evidence is so damning, even his wife thinks he’s guilty. The Magnolia Faith Church might be the key to proving William’s innocence, but making the 251-mile connection could be deadly. Told from two points of view, HOLLOW CRIB is fast-paced and suspenseful, taking readers down separate paths toward a single unexpected and explosive conclusion.

    Romeo Moon is a Poe Detective who has been trained to handle any number of villains--including supernaturals-- such as gods, goddesses, vampires, zombies, angels, witches, demons, devils, abominable snowmen and women and various other fantastical and ordinary creatures that give into the lure of criminal enterprise. But there is one type of villain he hasn’t been trained to fight—the ruthless rich man who has the magic of money on his side. At first the rich man hires assassins to kill Romeo. When the assassins fail, the rich man shows he believes in the motto ‘try try again” and does on numerous occasions. As Romeo investigates, he begins to realize that there is more at stake than just his life, though naturally his life is of considerable importance to him. He has allies: his undertaker best friend, his zombie girlfriend, and a certain famous three-headed dog. But the power of money can buy many things-- including but not limited to armies of the living and the dead, policemen, corrupt city officials, flamethrowers, and horned demons. There’s a battle coming and Romeo Moon will be right square in the middle of it.

    A generation of lost youth. An elite women’s group determined to find their place in the world. Welcome to Piccadilly Ladies Club. Julia Barlow is an elite member of this all-female club for writers, illustrators, and daughters of accomplished gentleman. She is caught between her desire to prove herself as a respectable journalist in male-dominated 1920’s London and a carefree existence as one of the Bright Young People living life on her terms. When a scavenger hunt at Hyde Park goes badly and her dear friend Jimmie is accused of a heinous crime, Julia finds herself and her friends in the middle of a high-society scandal that could destroy their charmed way of life. Can she clear Jimmie’s name or will her stubborn determination to find her place in the world get her and her friends into even more trouble? Hyde Park Heist is the first book in Piccadilly Ladies Club Mysteries. Join Julia and her best friend Edith on rowdy treasure hunts, at exclusive, often garish house parties, and at speakeasies and jazz clubs where they dance and drink the nights away, challenging the standards of their birthright at every turn.

    Alen and Joan Arny happily left law enforcement behind in exchange for traveling and new adventures. They never expected their new job as house and pet sitters to lead them back to crime and intrigue.Ian Bennett has a secret. He’s in big trouble if it’s exposed and someone is threatening to do just that. The American couple house sitting next door might be the answer to his prayers.Alen and Joan question if it’s possible to solve a mystery and capture a criminal with no police department, authority, jurisdiction, crime scene analysis, forensics, or modern crime-solving technology.Will Alen be able to trust his intuition through his self-doubt, will Joan consider crime-solving a bucket list-worthy adventure, and can a canine named Sherlock Holmes help at all?Read it today, because we love a cozy mystery where the good guys prevail and dogs help save the day. Exposed in Edinburgh is the first book in the series. A clean cozy mystery. No graphic violence, sex, or strong language. Available in Large Print. The House Sitters Cozy Mysteries will take you on adventures and land you in the middle of crimes in different international cities in each book. Enjoy travel photos and recipes from each destination along with charming dogs in each country. Look for corresponding journals. Each book can be read as a standalone and you can read them in any order.

    Now she is simply trying to hang on to the only family she has left: her husband Scott, who is escalating from emotional to physical abuse; her cousin Laura Thornton, her best friend since babyhood; Laura’s ex-husband Sam; and Caro, the much-loved and wealthy young aunt who took Sarah in as a teenager. When Caro’s lifeless body is discovered, Sarah’s problems escalate. The family has motive, and none of them have alibis, prompting a close-minded homicide detective to hone in on them as his only suspects. To protect her family, Sarah has to find the strength to put aside her mind-numbing grief so she can focus on unraveling the mystery of Caro's death. It will take a depth of courage Sarah’s not sure she possesses, especially when every move she makes seems to increase the odds that one of the people she loves is the killer.

    

    Betrayal. Tea and Scones. When ex-novice nun, turned steamy romance writer, Maggie O’Flynn moves to the charming village of Stratford Upon Avondale to open a tea room she expects plenty of murders, betrayal, and duplicity. On the stages of the town’s renowned Shakespeare Festival. But when a theater critic is found murdered on the town’s riverbank and the prime suspect turns out to be the sexy bookshop owner Maggie has had her eye on, she takes matters into her own hands. Will she be able to dig through the layers of betrayal and duplicity to find the true murderer before that handsome bookseller, Nate Larimer, finds himself behind bars? With the help of her loud, brash, spitfire of a friend, Gina Mattucci, Maggie plans to do just that. With a bit of Shakespeare, copious amounts of tea, and a faux-English setting to rival anything the real England has to offer, ALAS, SHE DROWNED is the first book in THE STRATFORD UPON AVONDALE mystery series. Lovers of cozy mysteries will find a cozy home in Stratford Upon Avondale.

     Detective Nick Cross is hard at work repairing burnt bridges incurred during a stormy first marriage when a murder happens. “Only One Will Fall” is the cryptic message sent to the victim’s husband moments before the slaying, but nobody thinks much of it until an identical message is sent to the relative of a second victim. To Nick, it means one thing: Mount Pleasant has a serial killer on their hands. With no motive and no connection found between the victims, the police are helpless to prevent the rampage from continuing. It doesn’t help that the Field Agent sent by the FBI clashes with Nick’s style in handling the investigation. But Nick isn’t done. He decides to take matters into his own hands, unwittingly setting himself up as the next target for a ruthless killer who can’t be stopped.

    He wants revenge on those who put him there.He also wants the missing £20 million from his last heist.Fogarty is ticking names off his hit list.He knows where Jake lives.It’s time for Jake and Magda to run.But Magda is no stranger to the criminal underworld — or to the violent men hunting them. CAN JAKE REALLY TRUST HER?AN EXHILARATING THRILLER THAT WILL LEAVE YOU BREATHLESSMEET JAKE ORD, an ex-spook who does not dwell on the past. Why would he? It holds few attractions for him. He just wants some peace and quiet in his retirement. But characters from the old days keep cropping up. And they always bring trouble. Luckily, Jake is a man who can handle himself. And he’s not afraid of getting his hands dirty.

    But the weekend is doomed: Ellen's husband invites his two legal partners and their quarrelling wives A black sheep nephew shows up One of the legal partners brings his wife’s wallflower sister Ellen’s son brings his devastatingly handsome best friend A new neighbour throws herself on Ellen’s mercy because of renovations If that isn’t enough, Lorry discovers a body in the Japanese garden, and the law arrives in the form of a tired Paul Manziuk and his brand new, totally unwanted partner, Detective Constable Jacqueline Ryan. Note: Discussion Questions for Book Clubs are in the back of the book along with some Bonus Features not in the print versions.

    News of Stella’s death in Ecuador propels her into dangerous territory. Accompanied by the mysterious man her mother hired to protect her, Grace discovers there is a fine line between justice and revenge. The decisions she faces have the power to bring forgiveness and redemption or despair and destruction.

    The Princess of Greektown continues the story.Nestled below the skyline of Detroit you'll find Greektown, a few short blocks of colorful bliss, warm people and Greek food. In spite of growing up immersed in the safety of her family and their rich culture, Jill Zannos doesn't fit in. A Detroit homicide detective, she manages to keep one foot planted firmly in the traditions started by her grandparents, while the other navigates the most devastated neighborhoods in the city she can't help but love. She is a no nonsense workaholic with no girlfriends, an odd boyfriend who refuses to grow up, and an uncanny intuition, inherited from her mystic grandmother that acts as her secret weapon to crime solving success. Her story winds around tales of her family and their secret laden history, while she investigates the most despicable murder of her career. The Greeks of Beaubien Street is a modern tale of a family grounded in old world, sometimes archaic, tradition as they seek acceptance in American society. They could be any nationality, but they are Greek.